Wednesdays Do You Know?: K-pop (Groups)

July 12, 2017

Hello, #UnitecStudents! This Wednesday is our first #WednesdaysDoYouKnow. I am excited to introduce to you some topics that may be of high interest to you (or not) and I hope we can start a conversation about it and meet more like-minded students around the campus. For this Wednesday, I’m here to introduce to you South Korean popular music, better known asK-pop.

K-pop is a music genre that refers to the popular music from South Korea. It covers several music genres but is usually known by its modern form of South Korean pop music drawing on a range of Western styles and genres, such as pop, rock, jazz, hip-hop, R&B, reggae, electronica, techno, nu metal, folk, country and classical on top of its traditional Korean music roots. It is also best known for the fizzy dance music performed by systematically trained girl and boy bands, use of English phrases, fashion, choreography, music video, and fans. (Note: Don’t mess with K-Pop fangirls and boys!)

There is a lot of catchy K-pop music out there and if you’re looking for some songs to add to your playlist, here are some possible options. With catchy beats, breathtaking choreography, and well-produced music videos, I bet you’ll get hooked on K-pop pretty soon. I have picked out a few of the K-pop songs from girl and boy groups I like from the last couple of months and you might’ve heard of some, but if you’re new then enjoy the following:

01. Don’t Wanna Cry by Seventeen

Seventeen (세븐틴), also stylised as SEVENTEEN or SVT, is a boy group formed by Pledis Entertainment in 2015. The group consists of thirteen members: S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino. The group’s members have been deeply involved in the composition and production of their discography and choreography since debut, leading to the nickname “self-producing” idol group.

2. As If It’s Your Last by BLACKPINK

Black Pink (블랙핑크), stylized as BLACKPINK or BLΛƆKPIИK, is a girl group formed by YG Entertainment and consists of four members: Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rosé. They officially debuted recently on August 8, 2016.

3. Save Me by BTS

BTS, also known as Bangtan Boys, Bulletproof Boy Scouts or Beyond The Scene, is a seven-member South Korean boy group formed by Big Hit Entertainment. The group consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Rap Monster, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. BTS won a Billboard Music Award for ‘Top Social Artist’ this year and is known for their large international fanbase, having performed and sold out tours in Asia, Europe, Australia, North America and South America.

4. Don’t Recall by KARD

Kard (카드), also stylised as KARD, K.A.R.D or K♠RD, is a co-ed group formed by DSP Media last year. The group is composed of four members, J.seph, B.M, Somin and Jiwoo. They are yet to debut officially. The song below is an English version of one of their songs.

5. Really Really by Winner

Winner (위너), often stylised as WINNER, is a boy group formed in 2013 by YG Entertainment and debuted in 2014. It currently consists of four members, Jinwoo, Seunghoon, Mino and Seungyoon. The fifth member, Taehyun, left the group on November 25, 2016.

06. TT by Twice

Twice (트와이스), often stylised as TWICE, is a girl group formed by JYP Entertainment through the 2015 reality show, Sixteen. The group is composed of nine members, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. The group debuted on October 20, 2015.

And now for some kind of old tunes…

07. Fantastic Baby by Bigbang

Big Bang (빅뱅) is a boy band formed by YG Entertainment. Consisting of members G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri, the group officially debuted on August 19, 2006. Labelled as the Kings of K-pop, the members’ involvement in composing and producing their own music, most notably G-Dragon, has earned the group respect and praise from the music industry. If you liked their music, you can see GD perform live next month here in Auckland.

08. I Got A Boy by Girl’s Generation

Girls’ Generation (소녀시대), also known as SNSD, is a girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun and debuted in 2007. Originally a nine-piece group, Jessica departed from the group in September 2014.

09. Call Me Baby by EXO

Exo (엑소), stylised as EXO, is a boy group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2011. The group debuted in 2012 with twelve members separated into two subgroups, Exo-K (Suho, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, and Sehun) and Exo-M (Xiumin, Lay, Chen, and former members Kris, Luhan and Tao), performing music in Korean and Mandarin respectively.

10. I Am The Best by 2NE1

2NE1 (투애니원) was a girl group formed by YG Entertainment in 2009. The group was made of Bom, Dara, CL and Minzy. 2NE1 is supposed to stand for “New Evolution of the 21st Century”: “NE” meaning “New Evolution” and “21” standing for the “21st Century.” Their disbandment was announced on November 24, 2016.

There you have it. I’m sure some of you will feel weird on some parts of the videos you’ve seen as it is completely new for you. Let me know which ones are your favourites and if you are already in the fandom, what other songs can you recommend to our students?